Search for lenses, articles and help
“When an accomplished architect returns to his quaint hometown to settle into his modernist house, he discovers it isn’t quite the magnum opus he envisioned…”
For filmmaker Joseph Dominic, Vithura is more than a graduation film from the London Film School—it is a meditative exploration of memory, architecture, and the emotional cracks in modernity. Raised in Delhi by Malayali parents, Joseph returned to Kerala to make his debut short feature film in Vithura, a real town nestled in the foothills of the Western Ghats. Shot entirely on location, the town serves not just as a backdrop but as a silent character—lush, grounded, and in subtle conflict with the sleek modernism of the protagonist’s home.
“I’ve always been fascinated by architecture—especially when structure is prioritized over practical living,” says Joseph. “There’s a quiet horror in realizing your masterpiece doesn’t actually function as a home.”
Vithura centers on an accomplished architect who returns to inhabit the very house he designed. As practical flaws emerge—leaky roofs, inaccessible corners, termite infestations—the film mirrors how unchecked idealism can lead to personal and cultural disintegration. It is as much about failed architecture as it is about the emotional toll of disconnection and rootlessness.
Visually, the film draws direct inspiration from Kogonada’s Columbus (2017), a meditative drama that intertwines architecture with emotional stillness. The filmmakers were especially struck by Columbus’ use of composition and its subtle emotional currents framed in precise geometry—a style enabled by Cooke lenses in that film as well.
“Columbus was a crucial reference,” Joseph notes. “It showed us how a space can hold tension, how stillness can express more than dialogue. That grammar influenced every frame of Vithura.”
To channel this influence, Vithura employs still, balanced compositions juxtaposed with gentle dolly pushes—a visual language designed to evoke containment and gradual internal collapse. During moments of emotional instability, the grammar breaks briefly into handheld movements, reflecting a psychological rupture in contrast to the built order of the setting.
Working alongside cinematographer Maxwell Cutting, the duo selected Cooke S7/i primes paired with the ARRI Mini LF, shooting mostly on 35mm and 50mm lenses. The Cooke look—renowned for its warmth, gentle falloff, and lifelike rendering—was essential in keeping the visuals emotionally resonant yet unintrusive.
“Cooke gave us the ability to hold the frame still while letting life breathe within it….It helped us create intimacy without sacrificing form.”
Lighting was based on Roger Deakins’ cove lighting method, where part of the room is draped in unbleached muslin and illuminated with multiple smaller lights. This allowed the team to maintain a consistent, soft ambient tone, accommodating both wide shots and close-ups with natural continuity.
One standout moment involved capturing the delicate chaos of termites—a metaphor for erosion within structure—using diopters to achieve intimate detail without distorting Cooke’s natural rendering. The film also layers its imagery with reflections, visual frames within frames, and symbolic compositions to echo its deeper themes of modernization, memory, and fractured identity.
“In Vithura, we’re talking about more than design,” Joseph reflects. “We’re talking about what gets left behind when design forgets people—when ambition overshadows belonging. And Cooke lenses allowed us to show that tension with subtle grace.”
Vithura is a quietly resonant film—architecturally controlled, emotionally vulnerable, and cinematically precise rendered through the lens of Cooke, it’s a compelling debut from a director blending design with storytelling in a deeply human way.
